Notebook: Chatfield going harder, lineup changes, feeding Toney

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Andrew Chatfield is one seven Florida players who made a number change for this season.

After wearing 90 during his first two years with the Gators, Chatfield has switched it up to No. 10. The reason?

“I just felt like it was time for me to go 10 times harder than what I was doing last year,” Chatfield said. “So, that’s why I changed it.”

Chatfield made nine appearances as a redshirt freshman, registering five tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. He’s on pace to boost that production in 2020, with three tackles and 1.5 TFL already to his credit through two games.

“It means a lot,” Chatfield said of his increased role. “Just sitting back watching all the edge rushers that were in front of me, just seeing how they made plays. I knew eventually, when it was my time to make a play that I knew I could step in and do that.”

The 6-foot-2, 248-pound pass rusher made a huge play last Saturday in the win over South Carolina. On first-and-goal for South Carolina, Chatfield leveled quarterback Colin Hill for his first career sack.

“It felt amazing, just having the fans behind you, and when you make that sack and you hear all the fans screaming, there’s nothing like it,” Chatfield said. “I think I probably just watched it like five or six times. But really, you just gotta move on to the next.”

He made the stop with Brenton Cox Jr., Florida’s starting defensive end. Chatfield is listed as his backup, but both are on the field together at times — such as their combo sack on Hill.

He calling working with Cox “very inspiring.”

“Every time we come out to practice, we come up with different moves every single day,” Chatfield said. “Always trying to get better. Always getting after it. Rushing with him, you learn a lot.

“We both teach other certain things about what we need. Like we figure out, what’s your weakness, what’s my weakness? And how can we make that stronger.”

Florida’s defense gave a stronger performance against the Gamecocks, but struggled to get off the field in the fourth quarter. The unit has been hit-or-miss so far, but Chatfield is confident it will come together.

“We’re all right. We just got to be consistent with everything and make plays,” he said. “As soon as we see the quarterback pass, we’re coming after him. With the run too, we’re always just trying to get there. Definitely this defense is very aggressive, and we're working.”

UF’s depth chart for Texas A&M featured some shakeups in the secondary, with Jaydon Hill officially becoming the starting cornerback with Marco Wilson at STAR.

Hill has started the first games and recorded a career-high three pass breakups last Saturday.

“I’ll be honest with you, I thought he was going to end the game with an interception against South Carolina there at the very end,” defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said of Hill. “I was kind of hoping for that for him because he has worked really hard to become a good player for us.”

Hill played in 10 games as a true freshman, finishing with 11 tackles. The nickel position is nothing new to Wilson, who made the move there last season and started the final three regular season games.

“He’s been there full-time,” Grantham said of Wilson at STAR. “We did that because the confidence we have in Jaydon, Chester [Kimbrough] and Kaiir [Elam] outside to be able to go make plays.

“As a defensive coach, you’re always looking to say, ‘How can I get our best 11 guys on the field relative to the situation?’ That move allowed us to do that. The good thing is Marco is a guy that has the ability to do both, so that gives us some flexibility.”

One of Florida’s starters, Amari Burney, is experiencing a new spot this season. Ole Miss and South Carolina were his first two games at inside linebacker, and he called his play “unacceptable” this week.

Grantham still has confidence that Burney can make the transition.

“Yeah, absolutely. I think he can, he’ll be a fine linebacker there,” Grantham said. “I think that part of working into being a great player is having that kind of attitude. Because whether you win or lose, it's really about watching the tape and making a critical assessment of, ‘What I have to do to be a better player?’

“So the character of Burney doesn't surprise me, him being able to do that. Because he’s a guy that is very critical of himself and wants to be a good player. So we’re going to continue to coach him and teach him and he's going to get there.”

Florida wideout Kadarius Toney had a breakout game in the win over South Carolina.

He set a new career high with 86 receiving yards on six catches, which also matched his personal best. Toney is the team’s leading receiver so far, and that’s not by mistake.

“We have some designed stuff where we’re intentionally trying to kind of force the ball to him,” Gators offensive coordinator Brian Johnson said of Toney. “But the majority of the plays he’s made, including the long touchdown, was within the flow of the normal offense. I think he’s made huge strides.

“I’ve always thought he’s a very intelligent football player. I’m just really proud to see his development and just him continuing to go be an every-down player and make a ton of plays.”

Johnson said he could tell Toney had turned the corner at receiver last season against UT-Martin, but a shoulder injury in that game sidelined him for seven weeks. His reps in the slot were also limited by senior captains Freddie Swain and Josh Hammond, Johnson added.

Their departures have allowed him to feed Toney more.

“He’s a very dynamic playmaker. He’s just so hard to tackle. He has elite balance and quickness. It’s really hard to get him on the ground,” Johnson said. “He’s been super consistent in his route-running ability to get open and separate first-man coverage, his reading coverage, making adjustments off of different coverage reads. He’s done a fantastic job.”

* Mullen on Justin Shorter’s pick play that freed up Trent Whittemore’s touchdown: “He just ran a hitch. The benefit he has is he’s a big guy, so he goes and runs a hitch. And he’s a physical guy, so sometimes it’s hard to press physical guys. He did a great job of shoring up the hitch and being there. When you’re whatever he is — 6-4 and 225 — you can push and get leverage, and then he itches on the goal. They ended up with both guys covering him and Trent wheeled around and came free. The benefit of having big guys is if both guys passed off to Trent, you’ve got this big, giant guy standing there with a big target right in the middle of the end zone. I thought he did a great job.”

* MSU grad transfer Stewart Reese, who played with Dak Prescott and Nick Fitzgerald, on UF quarterback Kyle Trask: “He’s a great pocket passer. Just his decision making and getting the ball out. He’s one of the best quarterbacks I’ve played for. I’ve played for really good quarterbacks. He’s one of the best.”

* Johnson on former Gator Feleipe Franks leading Arkansas to its first SEC win in 20 games: “I watched. Texted, talked to him. I was really proud of him. I thought he played really well. Good for him. Went down to Starkville, 2-0 in Starkville now for him. So, it’s always fun. My girls watched. My wife. We finished early so we got a chance to sit back and watch Feleipe. Very proud of him to see him go out there and play really, really well.”